Happy Holly-days
by complete-randomalities
Summary: Holly Elvin - former Head Elf at the North Pole, current nanny for Scott Calvin's son Charlie - takes part in Scott's journey of becoming the new Santa Claus. Holly reunites with old friends, helps Scott see Christmas through new eyes, and finds a place to call home. Merry Christmas and Happy Holly-days!


_**A/N: I am writing this story purely for the fun of it. It's not perfect by far but it's enjoyable for me to write this so I hope y'all enjoy reading it.**_

* * *

Holly Elvin knew she wasn't scheduled to work for Scott Calvin that evening due to it being Christmas Eve, but she had a feeling that he would need her and she was right. Holly had been working for Scott as his son's nanny for a couple years now, so she had gotten pretty good at knowing what each of the Calvin boys needed.

Holly used her key to enter Scott's house and of course Scott wasn't home yet. She looked at the time and saw that Charlie, Scott's son, would be arriving in a couple of hours.

Scott previously vowed that he would be home in plenty of time to welcome Charlie, but that clearly wasn't what had happened. "Oh, Scott, staying late at the Christmas party, I see." Not that she had any problems with celebrating the holiday, Holly was _all_ for that. It was being late for his son that was bothering her, especially since it was Christmas Eve.

Well, Holly was there and she wasn't about to let Scott's lateness put a damper on the holiday. After turning on the lights for the Christmas tree and the other decorations around the house, she got right to work in the kitchen.

Holly left instructions for the meal preparations on the counter for Scott to follow before he went to the party…but he didn't do a thing. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me this evening."

She pushed up the sleeve of her red and green Christmas tree sweater and tied her hair back. Since Holly was alone, she didn't worry about making sure her hair hid the tips of her ears – the _pointed_ tips of her ears.

Holly appeared to be a woman about thirty-one years of age, but she was much older than she appeared and once lived much farther North than she presently stood, but everyone has to grow up and move on eventually…even Santa's Elves.

This time of year was Holly's favorite. It reminded her so much of the North Pole and her life there; baking cookies in the kitchen, getting into mild mischief with the other Elves, and even training her replacement when she knew it was her time to move on. Holly used to be Santa's head Elf, but that was a long time ago and she has moved from one place to the next, one continent to the next, trying to find a place to call home ever since. Now, while she hadn't found it yet, being Charlie's nanny while he lived with Scott was the closest she had ever come.

Holly wasted no time in the meal preparations. Before long, the turkey was in the oven, the potatoes were almost ready to be mashed, biscuits made, and all the other fixings were all set for the final touches. She was just about to start making come Christmas cookies for dessert when there was a knock at the door.

Holly quickly brushed off her hands and pulled out her hair tie so her long, brown hair would cover her ears, and sprinted to the front door.

"Merry Christmas!" she excitedly greeted Charlie and his mother Laura.

"Holly! You're here!" Charlie wasn't expecting Holly to be there but he was really glad she was. He gave her a big hug before going inside.

"And now you're covered with flour," Holly laughed and brushed him off a little as he went, which didn't help matters because she still had some on her hands.

Laura walked into the house and looked around while Holly closed the door behind her. "Where's Scott?"

"He's not home yet, but I'm sure he'll be here as soon as he can." Holly smiled wide and held her hand out towards the living room. "Would you like to wait for him?"

"No, thank you. Neil and I are spending Christmas with his parents so I should get going." Laura honestly wasn't surprised that Scott wasn't there and while she wasn't too keen on Scott hiring Holly at first, she was grateful Holly was there now.

"Oh, of course. I completely understand." Holly went into the living room where Charlie was inspecting the presents. "Your mom's leaving, Charlie."

Charlie took his cue and went straight to his mother to say goodbye.

Holly was on her way back to the kitchen when she heard Charlie ask his mother to pick him up first thing in the morning. It saddened her a little to hear that, but it was understandable. Charlie didn't feel like a priority in his father's world, so it was no wonder he'd rather be with his mother. Despite Holly's best efforts, she hadn't been able to change that – to open up Scott's eyes to it – and finally came to the determination that it would take something much more than an overgrown Elf's input to make a difference.

When Laura called out her goodbye and Christmas wishes, Holly pulled herself from her thoughts and stepped into the foyer to wave. "Merry Christmas!"

Charlie sulked back to the living room and the tree after his mom left. "There's not many presents under there."

"Only because Santa hasn't come yet," Holly beamed but her bright expression dulled when Charlie said,

"Neil doesn't believe in Santa."

Holly didn't take offense to that and just crouched down a little to look Charlie in the eye. "Not a lot of grownups do, but what do you believe?"

"I want to believe in him," Charlie admitted, but sometimes he wondered.

"Then believe. I do." Holly stood up with a smile. "A wise friend of mine once said, 'Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing'." She waved her hand for him to follow her into the kitchen. "Come along, Charlie. These Christmas cookies aren't going to bake themselves."

Charlie was starting to feel a little better about things and quickly took off his coat because he was not about to miss out on the cookies.

* * *

Scott was _so_ late coming home. He stayed far longer at his company's Christmas party than he should have and tried to call Laura to tell her a made a story as to why he was late, but she didn't answer. He could easily imagine what would be waiting for him when he got home – a disappointed Charlie and an angry ex-wife. Which would likely lead to yet another argument between them.

What Scott did find when he got home surprised him. The lights were on in the house, Laura's car was not outside waiting for him, and went he went into his house not only was Charlie there making paper snowflakes in the living room, but Holly was there as well.

"You're here." Scott stated the obvious as he took off his coat and hung it on the wall. "You weren't scheduled to work tonight."

"I know," Holly smiled, "but it's a good thing I didn't listen. Isn't it?" She got up from the floor and started cleaning up the paper trimmings while Scott greeted his son.

"Hey, Sport." Scott mussed up Charlie's hair a bit.

"Hi, Dad," Charlie replied, still a bit bothered by the fact that he was late.

Scott picked up on that. "Sorry I'm late. Big three car pile-up. It took forever to get through." What he couldn't pick up on was whether or not either of them bought it, so he sniffed the air and changed the subjects. "What smells so good?"

"Holly made dinner," Charlie answered as he unfolded his snowflake. "And then we made cookies and then these." He held up his elaborate cut-out snowflake with pride. "Holly taught me how to make them like this!"

Scott had never been so glad of the fact that he hired Holly than he did in that moment. "Thanks, Holly."

"It was my pleasure." Holly smiled and headed for the door to get her coat and things.

Charlie didn't like what he was seeing. "Where are you going? Aren't you spending Christmas with us?"

Scott didn't give Holly a chance to answer before saying, "You are welcome to if you don't have plans. After all the work you put into dinner you should be able to enjoy it."

"And you can stay the night!" Charlie added in excitedly. "You already have your own room anyway."

Holly could hardly say no to this, and Charlie was right – she did have her own room when she needed to stay overnight while Scott had to work extra late and such. "You've convinced me," she giggled and returned her coat to its hook. "Charlie, why don't you get the table set? The turkey should be almost done."

After Charlie darted off to take care of that, Scott said to Holly, "Thanks again for this, really."

"I had a feeling. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I kept wondering if you burnt the turkey and ended up eating at Denny's." Holly laughed at the idea and started for the kitchen only to stop when Scott reached out his hand.

"You've got some flour in your hair." Scott brushed it off the side of her head then stepped aside so she could go first.

"Thank you." Holly smiled again and all bust sprinted into the kitchen to get things finalized.

Scott let out a deep exhale with a shake to his head before following.

* * *

At the end of the meal, Scott went into the living room and lounged back onto the sofa. "That was incredible, Holly."

"The cookies are my favorite," Charlie added in as he sat down beside his father and consumed what was likely his fifth one.

"I have my moments." Holly clapped her hands together. "And now for your viewing pleasure…" she went over to the TV and pulled a VHS tape off the shelf. "A Christmas Carol."

"The one with the creepy kids or the talking vegetables?" Scott asked as she popped it into the machine.

Holly turned around and went to sit on the other side of Charlie. "Talking vegetables, of course."

"All right!" Scott and Charlie just about said in unison then turned their attention to the movie.

Holly sighed contentedly at the sight of father and son spending time together. Even with it being just watching a movie, to Holly, it felt like so much more.

* * *

Since Charlie was falling asleep by the end of the movie, Scott carried him upstairs and read him 'The Night Before Christmas'. Holly took that time to clean up in the kitchen. She was in the middle of loading up the dishwasher when Scott came in.

"You shouldn't have to do that."

"I'm happy to. Besides, it is part of my job description." Holly was about to put another dish into the washer but Scott took it from her and returned it to the sink.

"Tonight, you are a guest."

Holly appreciated the gesture, but she voiced her next thought anyway, "And if they don't get done now, then when will they?" She raised a teasing, questioning brow at him.

Scott's expressions changed as he thought about the answer to that and finally responded with a tentative, "New Year's?"

Holly laughed loudly at that with a shake to her head. "Then they are definitely getting done now." She handed him the plate he previously returned to the sink. "Load em up."

"Yes, Ma'am," he chuckled and did just that.

Holly smiled and hummed a carol as they worked, making it seem to go much faster and much more enjoyable.

* * *

Holly couldn't sleep that night if one had paid her and she wasn't sure why. "Perhaps some cocoa will help," she said to herself and got out of bed. Holly accompanied her green and red fuzzy pajamas with matching socks and slipper boots.

She quietly made her way down the hall and found both Charlie and Scott were sound asleep. Santa was due at any moment so she would have to get herself asleep as well or else he'd likely skip over the house.

Not only was Holly quiet but she was quick. In no time at all she had her cocoa made, coat on, and was sitting out on the front steps looking up at the sky. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the cold Christmas Eve air. It smelled and felt like the North Pole – like home.

A loud sound coming from above her made Holly jump and almost spill her mug of cocoa. She set the mug aside and got up to investigate. Holly went down the front walk to get a better view of the house and gasped at what she saw; Santa Claus near the chimney.

Such excitement and elation surged through Holly that made her called out with a bit of a happy squeak, "_Santa!_"

Santa on the roof wasn't expecting that and was not prepared. He was startled himself and lost his footing. It wasn't long before he slipped, slid down the roof, and hit the snow covered ground with a thud.

Holly gasped in shock and stood frozen for a few moments before running into the house for backup. She almost ran into Scott in the foyer and started waving her hands towards the door, saying frantically, "He – he fell off the roof!"

Upon hearing that, Scott went outside to investigate with Holly right behind him and he found the 'he' she'd been referring to. Scott looked down at the Santa guy in the snow and back up to the roof. "What was he doing up there?"

"What do you think?" Holly squeaked before gasping, "It's _Santa!_"

"I think you've had too much special eggnog," Scott replied as he looked down at the unconscious Santa guy and kicked his boot for good measure.

Holly gasped at the accusation and answered with conviction. "I have not!"

Charlie joined them now, crying out, "You got him!" He ran over to join the pair and looked down at the still unconscious Santa. "It is Santa!" Charlie looked at his father accusingly. "You killed him."

"Did not," Scott countered and cocked his head towards Holly. "She did."

Holly once again gasped loudly at the accusation. "I did not!"

Scott allowed himself a momentary smirk at her reaction before saying to Charlie, "And he's not Santa."

"Well, he was." Charlie sounded so disappointed at he looked down at Santa.

"He is!" Holly declared and narrowed her eyes at Scott when he said,

"Holly, I get you're really into Christmas, but please don't encourage this." He approached Santa and crouched down to look for identification and voiced aloud what he was going to do.

Holly clapped lightly and bounced in excitement because she remembered what was inside Santa's suit if something like this happened. Yes, it was sad and all that this Santa wouldn't be Santa any longer but what happened to the Santas after they were no longer Santa wasn't a bad thing. A bit complicated to explain, but it wasn't bad and thus she was excited at the prospect for what would happen next.

By this point in time, Scott had found the Santa Claus card and read that he should put on the suit because the reindeer would know what he do. With that said and done, he looked back to Holly who was so bouncy she looked like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"What's got you so excited?"

"I've never seen this part before," she giggled, not worried about keeping her Elf identity a secret anymore because Scott would eventually put on the Suit and become Santa!

Before Scott could even begin to question that, they all heard some noises coming from the roof so they backed up to see the source; Santa's Sleigh and his Reindeer.

Charlie was in awe, Scott was confused, and Holly smiled the biggest smile she had in the longest time on her face while she said, "This is going to be the _best_ _Christmas ever_." She then winked at Charlie. "Trust me."

* * *

End Part 1


End file.
